Would Andre Ward have been better off making a name for himself at MW?

Andre Ward gets played out a lot on NSB forums a lot due to his inactivity. People either want him to retire, move up, or fight GGG on his first fight back. So to all the Ward haters, if he wouldve started at MW and won a title or 2 then moved up to SMW to become linear champ, would he have gotten more respect? IMO MW has always been a coming out division in boxing like the lightweight division but Ward totally ignored that division when I think at the beginning of his career he couldve made that weight easily, no crying over spilt milk but Wards had some bad management advice.